Car dealership owner arrested in shooting of teen burglary suspect

Thieves stole two cars right off the lot of Jonas Charles' Pompano Beach auto dealership, and he wasn't going to let that happen again, authorities said.

When four juveniles showed up at the Dixie Highway dealership at 2 a.m. Friday, Charles is accused of shooting a Glock 9 mm pistol and wounding a 15-year-old boy, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.

The injured teen survived, and wails of "Oh, you shot me bro!" and "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!" were captured on audio as men at the dealership talked with a 911 dispatcher.

The teen and a 13-year-old cohort who was found hiding on a roof will face burglary charges. Two other teenagers are being sought, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.

Charles was released from a Broward County jail Wednesday, the agency said. He did not return telephone messages left at his home and business.

Stolen from the JC Best Auto Sales lot on 1921 N. Dixie Highway late on May 21 or in the early morning hours of May 22 were a 2011 Nissan Altima and a 2008 Mercedes Benz sedan, with a combined value of $30,100. Also taken were keys for other vehicles and a $2,000 laptop, according to the burglary incident report.

The night of the shooting, Charles, 34, of Pompano Beach, told Detective Tim Metz that he saw the teenagers approach a Nissan Rogue SUV on the lot.

Charles confronted them, the boys scattered and Charles fired several rounds in their direction, Metz wrote in his complaint affidavit.

Two of the boys were cornered and the unarmed 15 year-old was shot; a bullet traveled through his lower abdomen and exited his body near the rectum, according to Metz's report.

Charles shot his weapon again, gunfire that was heard on the 911 recording, the agency said.

Charles initially denied shooting the juvenile, and instead blamed one of his friends. Investigators recovered a gun believed to have been used in the shooting from inside a barbecue grill on the car lot. After witnesses identified Charles as the gunman, he confessed to shooting the teenager, according to Metz.

Charles was angry his business had been burglarized and claimed he was defending himself and his property, the affidavit states. But according to the Sheriff's Office, Charles was "egregiously excessive in the manner in which he chased the burglars throughout his property ... randomly firing at them."